


The Return

by waverunner



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2017-09-19
Packaged: 2018-12-26 00:27:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12047484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waverunner/pseuds/waverunner
Summary: Korra is born into the royal family and on her 7th birthday is given her lady-in-waiting, a young Asami Sato. Asami is a commoner girl from a farming family that was raided by bandits and left orphaned from the attack. As they grow up together, they grow closer. Closer than anyone would have imagined. A slow burn romance from childhood to adulthood. Rated M for future content.





	1. The Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is my first story. Feel free to leave comments :) thanks for reading

Smoke wafted through the air and the smell of burning hair and flesh made the young girl vomit in the pile of hay she was hiding under. Moments ago, she was carried into the farmhouse and quickly cover in the dried grass by the frantic mother, who kept trying the hush the frightened child.

Asami was playing in the green grass field just in front of the family farmhouse when she heard the warning bells from the town square. Raiders from the Rebelling Northern tribes were coming. She saw her father run out of the house with his old rifle, yelling at his wife to take the child and hide her somewhere safe. Her eyes followed her father as he ran towards a large group of men headed down the road. She was has he raised his gun to his shoulder, prepared to fire when a gunshot was heard and seconds later her father was laying on his back in the middle of the road, eyes open and laying in a pool of his own blood.

While Asami hid in the hay; she could hear the screams from her mother outside the barn, her beloved mother who had ran out to try and fight the invaders with a shovel. Her mother's scream was suddenly cut short, and she knew her mother was now another tally on the death toll. 

The doors to the barnhouse were kicked open, and several male voices could be heard, laughing and jeering in a foreign dialect. The footsteps were approaching, getting louder and louder. Asami shut her eyes and held her breath, praying that these demons would not find her. 

Then there was a loud thunderous noise, and the men in the barnhouse could be heard speaking in frantic voices. The young girl heard the footsteps running out of the barn, swords being drawn. A few seconds later, clashing rings of metal on metal were heard and just as soon as it started, the noises stopped and footsteps were heard walking into the barn again.

A distant yell was heard, "look for survivors!" As the footsteps were just about to pass the nine year year old Asami, they stopped. Suddenly, a coldnose plunged into the hay, and a gentle pair of jaws wrapped around the young girl's wrist, pulling her out the pile. 

With a yelp the child opened her eyes, prepared to fight off the attackers. She looked around and saw a large while polar dog and a tall dark skinned man. Just as her fists were about to shoot forward in an attempt at a punch, a middle aged man with long dark hair gave a sad chuckle and picked he girl up in a bear hug.

"It's alright little one, you're safe now," said the booming voice of Tonraq. Asami cried out, she could feel the hot tears streaming down her face as she knew her mother and father were gone. She took a more careful look at the man as he lessened his grip on her, another still carrying her with one arm. She could see the Royal crest on his chest plate, a large crashing wave surrounded by the outline of a lotus flower. This man was not an invader but one of the Royal soldiers sent to fight off the barbarians.

Asami let out loud sobs as her tiny frame shook in the man's grip. The warrior held the child close, feeling his own heart break at the sight of this young girl, not much older than his own daughter, crying for her parents.

Just then, another man with a Royal ensignia on his chest ran in. "Your Majesty, we just finished the count," he said. "And?" Boomed the voice of the man holding the child. "No other survivors," the second man said, a bit quieter.

Tonraq let out a heavy sigh, know the days ahead for this child will be much different now.

Asami heard the second man's report to this man, who she now realized from hearing the honorifics, was the King, that her parents were most definitely dead. She formed her hands into tiny fists, and hid her face in them as she leaned against the King's metal plated chest, trying to hold back a second wave of sobs.

Her life would change very drastically indeeed.


	2. They Meet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami is brought to the palace by King Tonraq, and meets Korra

Korra sat next to the window, her elbows propped against the sill, and small chubby cheeks laid on top of her small fist. A small furry polar pup laid with it's head resting in her lap. It was the day of her 7th birthday and her father had promised to take her out to the fields for a camping trip. 

However, late into the evening three nights before, her father had come into her room and woken her up. With an apologetic her told her news of invaders had arrived and he had to ride as soon as possible with the Royal soldiers to defend their people. Korra in her semi unconscious state nodded and drifted back to sleep. Only in the morning had young Korra processed her father's words. 

Now she sat at her window, anxiously waiting for her father, King Tonraq, to return. It had been several days already since his departure and she was worried about her father's safety, even knowing fully just how great of a fighter her father was. 

Suddenly, the bells at the castle gates rang, and the guard yelled out, "open the gates!" Korra scrambled onto her feet and out her bedroom door, awaking Naga, her polar pup. "Come on Naga! Father is back!" The young princess excalimed to her companion. The two scurried down the steps of the eastern wing and out to the main road leading into the inner castle. She saw a band of soldiers returning on horseback, moving at a slow weary trot.

Her father was at the front, leading the men back. Korra ran to her father, her face beaming. "Welcome back Father!" The young princess exclaimed to Tonraq. 

The King dismounted his horse and picked up his daughter, giving her a big hug and kiss on the cheek. He looked tired from the journey back home, but happy to be back. 

"Happy birthday my dear Korra," the King said. Korra beamed, happy to know her father had not forgotten. 

Just then, one of the men from the company cleared his throat and the King turned to face him. "Excuse me, your Majesty," he said, "what shall we do with the young girl?" 

The King had not forgotten. He had tucked thr girl into one of the carriages that were brought to carry any wounded back to the castle. The young Asami was exhausted mentally and emotionally and had ended up sleeping almost the entire tril back. 

"Take her to the infirmary to get checked," said the King. The soldier nodded at the King's words and carried the commoner girl into the hospital wing of the castle. Korra caught a glimp of jet black hair and a pale angellike face, asleep and curled up in the soldier's arms as he carried her inside.

"Who was that Father?" the young princess asked the King. "A young girl who will need you to be there for her now," the King smiled sadly. "She was the only survivor of her village. Her father and mother were slaughtered by the invaders and Isla found her in the hay pile," her father continued.  
The young princess's heart filled with sadness. She could not imagine life without her mother and father, and knowing this other girl had just lost hers was heartbreaking. "I will keep her company Father," Korra said.

Tonraq proudly chuckled. "That's my girl. I promise I will make up the camping trip to you soon ok?" He said. Korra looked at her father and nodded. He could aee the determination in her eyes to comfort this other young girl. He set his daughter down and watched as she ran with Naga up the stairs and into the medical wing, looking on proudly.

Korra and Naga climbed up the stairs, the princess quieting her footsteps as she approached the room where she could see one of the doctors was examining the girl with the jet black hair for any injuries. Asami was sitting up in one of the beds. Korra could see that the other girl was now awake. The black haired girl's eyes were now open, but Korra could see they stared out blankly, as if they had no life in them. 

The princess hid near the entrance of the examination room, waiting until the doctor left before she entered. The other girl made no indication she realized Korra hadcome, or if she did she did not seem to care.

"Hello," Korra said curiously. Asami slowly turned her head, eyes still dull and unblinking. "Hello," the blackhaired girl said quietly. 

"I'm Korra, what's your name?" The princess asked. 

Asami turned away and looked at her hands folded in her lap, and hot tears began to fall into her hands. "A-Asammmi," the commoner girl said and she felt herself begin to sob. Asami's numbness from the raid until now had begun to melt away as she saw the dark skinned girl's kind eyes looking at her. Asami had shut her eyes, in an attempt to stop the tears from flowing. She then suddenly felt a warm fuzzy thing climb into her lap and a warm part of arms pull her into a tight hug. When Asami opened her eyes she saw a white furry creature with big black eyes looking at her, curled up in her lap and the Korra girl was huggin her tight. 

"It's ok," Korra said gently, " I know you probably feel scared in this new place but dont worry, you're safe here now."

Asami could feel a small smile form on her lips from the other girl's kindness, and a small part of her could feel things would be ok.


	3. Lady-in-waiting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami becomes Korra's lady-in-waiting

Tonraq spends a few hours after his arrival thinking about what to do with the young survivor they had found from the raided village. The King sighed heavily has he sank into his chair at his desk. His wife, Queen Senna, entered the room at that moment, and could see ber husband was troubled. She had come to greet Tonraq when he had returned, and had heard about the poor young girl he had found. She was just as upset as her husband in the events that had recently occurred and even more so at the fact that this little child had to experience something so traumatic. 

"What will we do with young Asami?" The king asked his wife. "I cannot bear putting this girl to the orphanage, nor can I make her into a servant, that just seems too wrong."

Senna thought the same thing, unable to bring herself to allow for the traumatized child to live in such a place. Then an idea stuck her.

"Korra's 7th birthday is today, and it is tradition for a young princess to be given a lady-in-waiting at around this time. What if we ask Asami if she would like to stay here, as Korra's lady-in-waiting?" Senna suggested. 

The King though of this idea. A lady-in-waiting was not a servant. More a companion to a queen or princess. And this would then allow the young orphaned child to live at the castle with the Royal family. "I think that's a wonderful idea," the king beamed at his wife. "I will ask the two children about it tonight, and see if Asami would be interested." 

Later that night, the king called Asami and his daughter into his study. The children had just spent the past few hours making sculptures out of some clay that the princess had brought to the orphan, in an attempt to take Asami's mind off of the past events and to get to know her as well. Now in this dark study, Asami began to feel some of the numbness creeping back, no longer being distracted by her new found friend and instead standing in front of the man who had found her in the barn that terrible day.

"Asami," the king said gently, "the Queen and I cannot stand to send you to the orphanage, nor can we bear to see you made into one of the castle servants at such a younga ago. Instead we would like to ask if you would like to become the lady-in-waiting to my daughter, Princes Korra? That way, you are not a servant but more a companion to her, and you would be allowe to live inside the castle with us. Would you like that?"

Asami digested the king's words. She had enjoyed the last few hours with the princess, and could tell that Korra had a kind and caring heart. Asami also did not want to be sent somewhere where should would recognize no face. The fear of being left alone and unloved now that her family was gone scared her. Asami gave a quick side eyes glace to the Princess, who she saw was looking at her with concern. "I-I think I would like to stay here, with Korra," Asami stampered quietly to the King. 

Tonraq smiled. "Perfect, dear Asami, you have a new home here. You are safe here. I have a feeling you and Korra will be the best of friends."


	4. Seven years later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been 7 years since Korra and Asami first met. Korra is now 14, Asami 16, and the two are beginning to work out their own feelings for the other. Puberty has hit and dirty romance scrolls are in ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thanks for all the nice comments and encouragement. Here's another chapter that is a bit more than just backstory like the first three chapters was.

Asami was seated on one of the branches of the plum tree, head leaning against the trunk of the tree as she read from her latest dirty romance scroll she had borrowed from one of the older girls that were working in the kitchen. "It's a great read, maybe you'll pick up a few tips for the Princess," the kitchen worker said earlier in the day as she winked and handed it to Asami. The darkhaired orphan turned young beauty had felt her cheeks burning to a deep read and she grabbed the romance scroll, stuffed it under her jacket and fast walked out of there. 

Goodness, is it that obvious? Asami thought to herself. Everyone and their grandmother seemed to have picked up the young girl's growing feelings over the years, as the entire castle's stall were constantly giving sly smirks and nudges lately whenever she passed one of them by while walking with the young princess. Asami and Korra were thick as thieves ever since Asami was brought to the castle after the raid of her village. 

The orphan bonded to the Princess quickly and had become her lady-in-waiting. Asami spent her days accompanying the princess everywhere she went during official visits, and spending lots of her free time cracking jokes and planning pranks on the old grumpy barons with the charismatic princess.

As they grew older, Asami began to realize that the fluttering in her stomach whenever she was around the yung royal was not a common feeling just anyone gets. She learned as she entered her puberty years that this was something called "feelings" and oh my god she had feelings for the princess, her princess, the princess she was lady-in-waiting for. It became harder and harder for Asami to keep the blushes from her cheeks when the realization of her feelings towards Korra dawned on her. Soon enough, the rest of the castle picked up on the flustered companion to the princess. it became a kind of running joke to tease the lady-in-waiting just a bit. Everyone knew of Asami's feelings for the Princess, everyone but the princess herself. As talented as Korra was in her athletic abilities in combat, the princess was (to Asami's relief), quite oblivious. 

Asami had just finished reading a rather raunchy part of the romance scroll, but in her head replacing the dashing prince with the dashing Korra. Asami closed her eyes and a smile formed on her lips as she imagined how Korra would be like with her in that way. Just as she felt her core begin to heat up, she felt someone's hand yank at her ankle and pull her out of the tree. Asami shut her eyes and braced for impacted with hard ground but was unstead met with a warm soft body. 

When Asami opened her eyes, she was greeted with the smiling face of her dashing princess, grinjing at her and giving her a tight bear hug squeeze. Their faces werr so close to each other. Asami began to feel her face flush into a shade of scarlet before she decided to gently wack the princess in the forehead. "Jeez why do you always like to scare me like that?" Asami huffed, pretending to sound slightly annoyed rather than show the princess just how flustered she made her. 

The Princess released her grip, and let the other girl onto her feet. Korra raised her arm up to scratch the back of her neck, which just so happened to flex her biceps in such a way that made Asami fluster even more at the sight.

The princess had just returned from he training practice at the training field within the royal compound. Sweat was still gleaning off the Royal's dark skin, indicating signs of the days hard work. "Sorry Sami, it's just fun surprising you sometimes," the princess chuckled.

Asami rolled her eyes at her friend, trying hard not to let her know just how happy that statemrnt made her. 

"So what were you reading up there anyways?" Korra asked her, straining her neck to try anf get a look at the scroll her companion was so deeply buried in moments earlier. 

"Wha-nothing interesting," Asami said quickly, stuffing the scroll into her jacket, "just the latest astrology essay by the library scholars," Asami quickly added, beggin the spirits Korra would not ask to take a look. 

"ohh ok," Korra said with a smile. "I hope it was an interesting read for you."

Oh it was, Asami thought to herself. "Anyways, what was it that you wanted to tell me earlier today?" Asami quickly asked, trying to change the subject. 

The pair began walking back towards the main castle ad they began to chat. Korra looked away, and Asami could see that there was a certain sadness in her eyes. Something was bothering her friend.

"Yes, there is some news I have to tell you," Korra began slowly. "The Avatar State has accepted me as their student." The Avatar State was a world renown league of warriors who were defenders of the realm, and ever since they were children, Asami had know Korra had been aspiring to join their ranks.

Asami swallowed before she let any words out, knowing full well that it meant her princess will have to leave home alone for many years training with the elite fighting company. "That's great," Asami said, her face trying to hid any hint of sadness. 

Korra, however, could see that it saddened her companion. The Princess slowed her walking to a stop and suddenly grabbed the girl's hand, holding it tight. Asami was pulled to a halt, and she turned her head back to look at the princess. The lady-in-waiting saw the princess looking at her in a peculiar way, eyes burning with a determination and yet soft with concern or was it even love? Asami shook that thought away, there is no possibility the princess could feel the same way, and instead feeling her face grow hot at the contact as the seconds ticked by and the princess had not yet said a word but continued holding onto her hand.

Korra could not bear seeing Asami so sad, ever since they were young. There was something in her, something that had always been burning inside of her since she firs laid eyes on that pale face. The princess vowed, ever since she saw the orphan crying on that hospital bed, that she would do anything in her power to never let her friend feel such pain and heartbreak ever again. As the years went on, Korra's protectiveness over Asami developed into something more. As the princess grew older (and her hormones began to kick in), she would wake up most nights from very descriptive dreams of her and Asami doing...things. These were the kind of things Korra had read about in the pile of trashy romance scrolls the older girl had kept hidden under her bed and that Korra had stumbled upon while looking for a hiding spot for one of Asami's birthday presents one year. 

The princess looked into her friend's eyes and with a gentle tug, forced Asami to walk closer to her, closing some of the gap between them. They were now about six inches apart, with the princess still gripping onto the older girl's hand. "I don't leave for a few more weeks, let's make the most out of what we have now ok?" Korra said quietly, still not breaking eye contact and somehow communicating with Asami the amount of care the other girl had for her through just that small bit of contact.

"Ok," Asami whispered out, still in a trance from the princess's gaze. She saw out of the corner of her eye that the princess had raised her other hand to brush some of the strands of hair away from Asami's face and then cupped the older girl's cheek in her palm. It almost seemed like the princess was going to lean in at any moment and kiss her. Asami held her breath and she could feel her own heart begin to throb aggressively inside her chest.

Ever so slowly, Korra seemed to be leaning closer towards her friend's face. Oh my god is she going to kiss me? Asami thought hopefully. Just as their lips were just centimeters apart, one of the servants came running up to them and forced the tel out of their trance like state. The two girls jumped away from each other and they were not separated by about three feet. 

With a small sigh, Korra turned her attention to the intruding individual. "I'm sorry to interrupt," the young man said with a slight blush, "but your father is asking for you, he would like to congratulate you on your acceptance to the Avatar State." 

Korra gave the princess an apologetic look. "I'll meet you back at our usual spot ok?" Korra said, referring to the plum tree located on the large center field at the back castle lawn that they had designated as their meeting spot since they were children. Asami nodded her head and Korra turned on her heels to walk with the servant to her father's large study, where the King often presided and was always working hard to ensure his people's needs were taken care of.

It'll have to wait until later tonight, Korra thought.


	5. Flashback 1: the thunderstorm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami's first thunderstorm at the castle. Korra is there to comfort the scared orphan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of many flashbacks that will be plugged in to fill the very large time gap in between the last few chapters.

Asami had been living at the castle for about two months now. While still quiet shy, her timidness slowly broke down the more time she spent with the secen year old princess Korra. The younger girl always knew just the thing to bring a small smile to the nine year old's face when she saw the orphan's mind began to wander back in time to the memories of her parents.

Just as her parents predicted, the two children were thick as thieves, doing absolutely everything together. As the princess's lady-in-waiting, Asami was expected to learn many new skills. This resulted in the orphan now constantly accompanying the princess to almost all her of royal lessons, to learn beside her. 

Today's lesson had been archery. The two were taken to a large open field near the edge of the castle land. The archery master Lee had set up two large bulls eyes at the far end, and a pile of finely constructed arrows at the childen's feet. They spent almost all day firing those arrows off into the distance, giggling away (much to Master Lee's distain). What Lee did not see when she would turn her back to critique the movement of each arrow's trajectory was that one of the girls would try to quietly distract the other and ruin the shot in all sorts of manner. 

In one round, while Asami was trying to line up the tip of her arrow with the large red center of the circle, she suddenly felt prickles on her neck. When she started hearing some muffled laughing, she turned and saw that Korra had begun sticking pieces of grass in her hair.

Two can play at that game, the older girl thought. When it was Korra's turn, Asami quietly pulled some of Korra's arrows with her feet and then acting like her feet were sore, she would bend down and stick leaves and small twigs in the feathers on the back of each arrow, then slowly pushing he pile of now tampered arrows back to the princess's pile. When Korra reached down to grab another arrow, she had to do a double take when she saw the end of her arrows looked like a jumbled mess. She shot Asami a scowl, trying to hid her smile.

All of their lessons were similar in such a way. It became a routine where one would try to get the other to laugh a bit too hard and get a lecture from one of the tutors. During embroidery lessons, Korra had stitched a stick figure picture of what seemed to be Asami (the older girl could only distinguish the "picture" as herself because the young princess had to label it with a badly stitched letter A and an arrow pointing to the figure). But the face was so badly donethat Asami could not tell if it was scowling or smiling. 

In language class, Asami would doodle on the corner of the princess's work pages with ridiculous drawings of the angry tutor after he had given the two a stern lecture the other night about paying attention.

The orphan was a much different girl now than she was two months ago. She had Korra and her silly antics to thank for that. 

The two girls spent most nights sleeping together in the same large bed. Asami was given a room adjacent to the princess's and with a door connecting the two rooms together. However, Korra offered the other girl room on her own bed after hearing the orphan's sniffles that first night. Korra spent that first week rubbing the older girl's back to help her fall asleep peacefully.

This continued on, and Asami had yet to sleep in her own bed alone without the princess by her side. This night was no different. The pair had just finished their archery lesson just as the sun was beginning to set over the horizon. They gotten home to eat supper with the King and Queen, where the children smiled and giggled to each other. The King could hear only rapid mumblings of inside jokes and the accompanying laughter. He smiled and was happy to see the older child in a much better mental state that he had originally found her in. 

Rain had begun pouring down as the girls were getting ready for bed. The first rains of the season had begun, and the girls could hear the pitter pattering of the water on the rooftop. The girls when crawled under the sheets of the large bed in Korra's room. Suddenly the lights flashed and a few seconds later a loud rumbling shook the castle. Asami's eyes widened and she gripped the sheets very tightly. She was not fearful of the thunderstorm when she had lived in the farmhouse with her parents. However, the rumbling of the thunder sounded all too much like the thundering hooves of the invaders from the day of the raid. Asami very quickly found herself hiding back in that hay bale. The girl shut her eyes and pulled the blanket over her head, trying not to let the tears out.

Korra could see that Asami was extremely upset, as emotionally broken as she was those first few days she had arrived and so the princess knew this had something to do with her trauma. Korra wrapped her small larges around her friend and put a hand on her head, telling her that everything would be ok.

Asami could feel Korra's hug and was wrapped up in that warmth. Slowly the older girl was pulled out of her flashback and back into the presence. The princess's soothing words reminded her she was safe now. Asami's breathing slowed down and very soon she fell asleep soundly, no longer fearful of the thunder.


	6. Flashback 2: the surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra takes Asami to the Royal Library; a flashback to six months after Asami's arrival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks again for all the nice comments and constructive criticism :)

Life in the castle had become almost routine for Asami. It had now been half a year since she was rescued and brought to the royal home by the King himself. The orphan and the princess spent all of their days together, and more and more days pass by between Asami’s nightmares about the horrors of the raid that had killed her parents. She felt indebted to the royal family who had taken her in, and to her new friend and princess, Korra, who did everything in her power to make life in the palace as comfortable for Asami as she could. 

Even though she was born into royalty, Korra at a young age was taught the importance of humility by her parents. “We are in this position to serve the people, not the other way around,” Korra’s father told her when she was just three years old and sitting on her father’s lap, one night. And Korra remembered those words and tried to live by those words every day. Her father was her hero, and she saw how hard he worked to improve the lives of the people living in the kingdom. 

When Korra saw just how much Asami would devour all the books in Korra’s room, an idea crept into her head. Every six months, the King would travel to the nearby Republic City, located about five days ride from the castle. Korra started accompanying her father on these trips when she turned five, as her father hoped that seeing the people and witnessing him doing his work by going around to feel the hungry and help those he found homeless in the streets would inspire Korra as she grew older to become a good ruler one day. 

Korra had decided, a week before one of these trips, that she would bring Asami to the royal Library located in Republic City, as a surprise. After Tonraq had taken the two girls to the homeless center and the soup kitchen the first day, and the two friends had spent most of that day working hard to comfort and cheer up the people there, the King thought the girls deserved the second day off since Asami had never been to the city before. 

The very next day after breakfast, Korra told Asami she had a surprise for her. The princess took off her scarf and tied it around her friend’s eyes, telling her not to peek. Then, accompanied by the royal guards, Korra took Asami’s hand and headed to the royal Library. It was in these little moments when Korra would take Asami’s hand, dragging the older girl somewhere out of excitement and anticipation of Asami’s gleeful reaction to things that Asami would get a warm feeling within her chest. She felt safe and protected by the princess. Today was no exception. 

They then entered the large iron doors, and walked through the hallway that opened up into a gigantic tower ten stories high filled with all sorts of books and topped with a large glass ceiling that let in the natural light. 

Korra stopped walking and then, still holding onto Asami’s hand asked, “Ok Sami, are you ready?” To which the older girl could only smile and nod. The princess let go of the older girl’s hand, stepped behind her, and untied her blindfold. 

Asami opened her eyes and gasped at the sight. It was a beautifully large room, filled to the brim with books. She looked to her left and right, just staring in awe. She looked up and there were even more floors just covered with bound hardbacks, scrolls, and looseleaf pages here and there. The older girl could only stare and look around, still frozen in happiness. Never had she been surrounded by so many books. Growing up on the farm with her parents, she was happy and lucky to get one book every year for her birthday. When she arrived at the castle and saw the small pile of about a dozen books on the table in Korra’s room, she didn’t think she had ever seen such a large collection. Even the bookstore in the small town where Asami had grown up was only just a shack with six books at most. But this royal library was something else. It was like Asami was in a dream.

The older girl felt a nudge on her right arm, and she turned to see the princess grinning at her, and pushing at her to go and look at the shelves of books. And with that comforting smile from the princess, Asami grinned back, grabbed Korra’s hand and now it was her turn to drag the princess around in excitement. They spend the entire day at the library, walking through all the shelves row by row, floor by floor. Asami pulled book after book off the shelf, her hands shaking in happiness with each book she opened. The duo had only gotten through the second floor when the sun set and the King strolled in to check on the two and tell them it was bed time. 

The girls ended up spending the rest of the trip in the library. Any free time the two had, Asami would rush to the library to read another huge stack of books. Korra was happy to accompany her. The princess loved seeing her friend so happy. By the time the trip was coming to an end, Asami had read through almost 100 books and was sad to leave this beautiful building. 

On the last day, while Asami was busy reading away, Korra tiptoed over to the head librarian’s office. An old woman sat behind a large wooden desk, with a pair of glasses set on the end of her nose, grey hair tied up with some strands falling on her face as she was hunched over reading a fat, bonded stack of pages. She looked up when she heard tiny footsteps approaching and smiled when she saw who it was. During the days the girls had spend their time there, the librarian had developed a fondness for the two. It was nice to hear young voices echoing in the halls. It was a much needed break from the grumblings of old scribes scurrying around. 

“Hello Princess Korra, what can i do for you?” the old woman asked. 

“I was wondering, i know we aren’t supposed to take books out of the library here, but since we traveled so far, and Asami is so sad to leave this place, would it be ok if we took a few with us? I think it would really make her happy,” the young princess said.

The old librarian smiled and nodded. At that signal, Korra grinned, said thank you, and skipped back to her friend. 

When it came time to leave on the last day, and Korra broke the news to Asami, telling her the librarian gave the ok to take some books back to the castle with them, the older girl’s eyes brightened up and she scrambled around pulling the largest books she could find off the shelves. In the end, the girls left the city in a much heavier carriage than they had arrived in, and there was barely any room to sit as Asami had filled pretty much all available space in it with as many books as she could. Korra was happy to see her smile so much, surrounded by the things she loved. Somewhere inside her chest, the princess felt a warm burning sensation as she looked at her friend, asleep with an open book in her lap, holding onto the princess’s hand as the carriage moved across the countryside, headed back home.


End file.
